


Warehouse

by atiisawriter



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, Gang AU, Hate to Love, M/M, Manipulation, Violence, leader!jooheon, minor showki, sniper!changkyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2018-12-14 23:56:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11794137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atiisawriter/pseuds/atiisawriter
Summary: Jooheon, the leader of the biggest gang in town, with Changkyun, the nameless kid from the raising rival gang.Or,Where Jooheon falls in every way possible for Changkyun





	1. Chapter One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you start reading, I would like to point out that I started writing this because of a gang au edit by this user: @kkyunjus on twitter (https://twitter.com/lgbtjookyun/status/888547333704757248)

The night was like he expected it to be; cold and quiet. The dim light barely illuminating the immense roads of Seoul. The city of big dreams and hopes, the city of headlights and fame. He, too, used to think the same about it when he first stepped out of that bus ten years ago. A young boy, lost in the crowd, chasing a distant dream, full of life and childish desires. But after a few days and incidents, the undeniable truth had slapped him out of his haze, and the blurry vision had finally cleared. He realized that it was, on the contrary to what he used to believe, the city of broken dreams and hopelessness, the city of darkness and loneliness. And now, he forgot about it all, about the small kid that came from Daegu and his dreams.

The night breeze sent chills throughout his body, but he found warmth in the cigarette between his lips and the pockets of his hoodie. Roaming the streets of his district became a habit after being an obligation. As a leader, he had many responsibilities and this one was his favorite. Mainly because nothing could happen at this late hour. Everyone was probably asleep, dreaming about something that will never come true, or remembering an old dead memory that will never resurrect.

It took only a few minutes to roam the entire district. So when he was almost done with his duty, the music that was blasting from his headphones stopped abruptly and was replaced by the annoying generic iOS ringtone.

“Hello.” His voice came out a bit scratched from the many cigarettes he had smoked in such a short time.

“Jooheon, we need to talk.” A familiar rough voice said.

“Oh, Hyunwoo. Why?”

“You know why.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’ve already said that what had happened is unforgivable.” Jooheon said, his voice echoing as he walked through an alley.

“I am not okay with your terms. I don’t want to leave the district. Let’s solve this calmly.”

“There’s no calmly in this, either you accept my terms or I’m going to make you accept them with force.” Jooheon threatened.

“Can we talk about this face to face?” Hyunwoo tried again.

To be honest, Jooheon had nothing to lose other than his precious time that he’d rather spend on more useful things. He was quite busy, his gang was the biggest in town. They help in drugs and money trafficking, as well as dealing with the mafia sometimes, and if they find an offer beneficial, they’d even work as rental criminals. Meeting Hyunwoo will not be beneficial in any way, but he may as well get it over with, and finish this trivial matter quickly.

“Okay, whatever. Where?”

“I will text you the address.”

“Are you going to be alone?” He asked, just in case.

“No. One of my guys will accompany me. You can bring someone if you want.” Hyunwoo offered.

“You don’t tell me what to do. Bye.” And with that Jooheon hang up

 _What kind of gang leader is too scared to come alone_? Jooheon never took anyone with him to business meetings like this. A gun glued to his hip and a knife in his right shoe was enough.

Hyunwoo was only leaving bad impressions on him. A bad brain and on top of that a coward, Jooheon once thought that the rival gang was a threat to his district, but now he was sure of it.

-

The next morning, during his daily meetings with his friends in his apartment, he explained the situation to them, and they weren't very surprised by the no brain gang leader.

"I told you that he's no shit, y'all said he looked like a tough one." Kihyun said from his spot on the couch, facing Jooheon who was smoking.

"Shut up, you didn't even see him Hyun. He is tall as fuck and has real muscles, man, I wonder who'd win in a one on one fight, our leader or tough Hyunwoo." Hyungwon said from the other side of the leather black couch.

Jooheon ignored their usual useless conversations, these kids have no sense of priority, there's more important matters than an imaginative fight between him and Hyunwoo. Though, if he's completely honest, a one on one fight would be quite interesting to see.

"Jooheon, what do you think?" Hyungwon asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

"What?" Jooheon wasn't paying attention to what they were going on about.

"I said: you should take me with you. Ya know, he said that it’s ok." Hyungwon was leaning toward Jooheon with pleading eyes.

"Fuck no." Jooheon denied his request immediately.

"But-"

"No is no. That would be fucking humiliating." He said, blowing the smoke out of his lungs directly onto Hyungwon's eyes.

"Ow, what was that for?!" He yelled, leaning back to his seat, rubbing his eyes furiously.

"But Jooheon, I know what you mean by it'd be humiliating, but the fact that he's bringing some other dude with him is suspicious. Taking precautions is smart not humiliating. If he's willing to bring a bodyguard then he'd be willing to bring multiple ones." Kihyun, the voice of reason, said.

On one hand, Kihyun was completely right because Hyunwoo was never trustworthy, not after what had happened. But on the other hand, Jooheon's ego was too big to allow him to bring someone for protection. He could protect himself just fine. But he also had learned through the years that his ego would only hurt him, and that he should think with his brain rather than his emotions. And Kihyun, fortunately, reminded him of that constantly.

"I think you're right. You're coming with me." Jooheon finally decided.

"Alright then." Kihyun said, grinning and moving his eyebrows at Hyungwon.

"Hey! That's not fair at all, it was my idea first so why are you taking him?"

"Because you're dumb as fuck." Jooheon reasoned.

"But I'm physically stronger!" He shot back.

"Asshole! What do you mean? Wanna test who's stronger?" Kihyun launched himself toward Hyungwon.

Jooheon sighed. Here he thought that Kihyun was more mature. He had the wrong gang members, but the right friends. That's the reason why his gang has been going solid for years. They trusted and had mutual respect for each other, and the idea of betraying each other had never even crossed his mind, it's the only reason why he’d asleep if he puts his head on a pillow. They've known each other for six years and it felt like they've been together since birth.

Jooheon felt a bit suffocated inside the small room. He walked to the balcony, the cigarette long finished but still between his lips.

The sky above was deep blue, pinkish strings spread across the blue from one horizon to the other, birds flew on top of his head singing melodies in languages only they understood, and Jooheon found himself sort of looking forward to his meeting with Hyunwoo, and to what kind of discussion they are going to have.

"When and where is our fateful meeting?"

Jooheon looked back to see Kihyun leaning against the door frame, his undercut and black clothes had made him look more badass than he actually was, and Jooheon found himself a bit proud of how intimidating Kihyun could be sometimes, although his real nature was completely different.

"Today. 4PM, a warehouse outside town." Jooheon said leaning against the short realigns of the balcony, knowing how that would trigger the mother inside Kihyun. As predicted, Kihyun grabbed Jooheon’s arm and pulled him away from the dangerous position.

"A warehouse? Isn't that too suspicious?"

"I didn't wanna change the spot, ya know, don't wanna look like a coward."

Kihyun laughed at that.

"Oh, Jooheon, you and your fat ass ego. We all know that you are the toughest guy around, no need to prove that to us anymore. We trust our leader." Kihyun said, patting his shoulder.

"But they don't know that yet."

"Who?"

"Hyunwoo and his bodyguard."

_Oh._

This was a political matter, a game that leaders would play. Waiting to see which one will back down first and show weakness of any kind. It took Kihyun long enough to figure out considering that he was the brain of the group.

Kihyun didn't say anything, instead, he gave Jooheon a serious look that said:  _I'm not going to disappoint you, today._ And that was the only form of communication and words they needed to exchange, before they headed toward the car to drive to their destination.

It took forty five minutes of driving to get to the warehouse. It was considerably huge, its bottom half painted in blue while the upper half was white. The field around it was short trimmed green grass and a few trees surrounding it from every direction. A forest with tall trees could be seen in the background. The quietness was too loud, making Jooheon's ears ring. He didn’t like quietness.

When He and Kihyun stood in front of the immense white door, he reluctantly opened it, his free hand behind his back.

The inside of the warehouse didn't look like one. It looked like a big living room. Two couches pushed in the very back, facing an LCD screen, a wooden table surrounded by multiple chairs and a refrigerator beside it.

_Why are we meeting here out of all places?_

"Good afternoon."

Jooheon and Kihyun looked toward the general direction of the voice. It was Hyunwoo getting inside the warehouse from a backdoor that neither of them had noticed at first.

"Please take a seat." Hyunwoo offered while walking toward them.

He extended his hand toward Jooheon that took it, both of their grips were tight. Kihyun had no doubt that if he didn’t interrupt, they would've had continued their grip contest until one of them breaks a finger.

"Who's this with you?" Kihyun said, glaring at the boy that stood quietly behind Hyunwoo. Kihyun was still suspicious about this whole situation.

Hyunwoo, thankfully, let go of Jooheon's hand and briefly shook hands with Kihyun.

Jooheon, for the first time, glanced at the boy who was looking at his feet. And his first thoughts were  _he doesn't look like one of us._ He looked like a rich school boy that didn't know what struggling was. And that, in fact, wasn’t a good first impression according to Jooheon.

"This is Changkyun, a new member. He is an extremely skilled sniper." Hyunwoo introduced. Jooheon and Kihyun just nodded their heads, not very interested in a pawn, a nameless guy.

On the other hand, Kihyun wouldn’t have needed an introduction, everyone knew who he was. In fact, everyone knew Jooheon's three closest gang members, Kihyun, Hyungwon and Minhyuk. Some people called them the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse, which was completely absurd to Jooheon and it annoyed the hell out of him.

After the unnecessary introduction, they sat in the brown couch, Kihyun beside the leader while the rivals were facing them.

"Can we get to the point of this already?" Jooheon said impatiently.

"I know that the last deal was a total failure-"

"Of course it was." Jooheon sneered.

"My member had made a terrific mistake. He was punished for missing the shot and hitting your member instead of the guy we were aiming for-"

"His name is Minhyuk not my member." Jooheon was getting enraged by the second.

"Yes. Minhyuk. We are trying to compensate for our mistake by offering a deal." Hyunwoo said, no hesitation in his tone, which was baffling, considering what he was offering.

"Are you fucking kidding me??!!" Jooheon yelled while slamming his hand on the table. From the side of his eye, he noticed the poor kid next to Hyunwoo flinching.  _Fucking bunch of weaklings._

"Changkyun will not miss the shot this time." Hyunwoo said as though that was enough to make Jooheon accept whatever the hell Hyunwoo was trying achieve.

"Changkyun who? Do you think I'm going to put my life and my friends’ lives on the line for a goddamn nameless kid?"

"Don't look down on me. You have not seen anything of me yet." Changkyun looked at Jooheon with piercing brown eyes, voice deep and sure.

Quite brave for a nobody.

"Show me then." Jooheon challenged.

"Sure." He accepted the challenge.

Changkyun stood up, looked at his leader momentarily, and then proceeded toward the warehouse's back door. Jooheon followed him, which left Hyunwoo and Kihyun alone.

Changkyun walked outside the warehouse and started climbing a ladder that was two inches away from the white back door. Jooheon quietly followed, until they reached the rooftop of the warehouse. The late afternoon’s breeze had hit Jooheon’s face so he closed his eyes for a short moment. 

When he opened his eyes, he hadn't the time to react to what was happening. Changkyun had his gun already out and pointed at Jooheon's face. 

_1,_

_2,_

_3,_

_Shot._

Jooheon had thought that he was dead for a second before another cold breeze caressed his face, and Changkyun's voice made him realize that his heart was still beating -not normally but still beating nonetheless.

"Right on the spot." Changkyun said, looking at the wooden board behind Jooheon with a blue X painted on it. A proud and smug expression on his face as he put back his gun behind his back.

Jooheon was speechless for a few seconds, which only indicated that Changkyun won the first round. He fucking won. Because if it wasn't for his skillful hands, Jooheon would've been dead by now.

 Jooheon knew that he should not show any complaints or react as though it was a big deal, because he had nothing to complain about, Changkyun did not miss the shot.

"The rifle is over there." Changkyun said, casually walking to the other side of the rooftop, as if he didn’t just almost killed Jooheon.

Jooheon seriously considered shooting the stupid asshole in the back right there, right now, but that was a dirty move even for a gang leader. Plus Kihyun is still down there with Hyunwoo.

Changkyun knelt down to be at the same level as the black rifle. Jooheon did not understand anything related to rifles, but he was sure that it was high quality, it looked high quality at least.

Beside the rifle there was other stuff laying, probably the equipment a sniper would need. Jooheon assumed.

 

"This is an M24, one of the best in the market. It has the greatest precision and speed, and it never disappoints me." He said, while caressing the weapon as though it was a soft cheek. Jooheon did not blame the guy, he treated his gun the same way.

"Here, use these." Changkyun said, handing Jooheon a pair of binoculars.

"What for?"

"I come here to practice my precision. Far away in the forest, there's marked trees that I try to hit." Changkyun explained. Jooheon took the binoculars and tried to focus his vision on all of the marked trees which took a couple seconds. The first tree was pretty far, if Jooheon allowed himself to admit.

Changkyun concentrated, putting his eye on the eyepiece of the detachable telescopic sight. He briefly adjusted the focus and then internally counted till three. With no second thoughts or hesitation, he pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting exactly the red X in the far away tree.

"What do you think?" Changkyun asked, removing his eye from the eyepiece, and stared at Jooheon with sparkling eyes.

"Not bad." Jooheon said, taking off the binoculars from his eyes. He tried so hard to not show how impressed he actually was. No need to make a brat feel smugger than he already was.

"Want to stay until I'm done with my practice?"

Jooheon had accepted the challenge when they were down there, so he may as well stay until it’s done.

The next fifteen minutes passed by like a flash. Changkyun showed Jooheon how the rifle worked, its name, its different parts, as well as why was it the best one out there. The leader only listened, not talking much, he didn’t want to warm up to a rival. Even if they may work together in the future bacause it’d be a onetime deal.

"I noticed that you call your gang members, your friends. Why?" Changkyun asked out of nowhere, as he cleaned his precious possession with a cloth.

"Huh?" Jooheon was startled by the question for a moment. "Because they are my friends?" It came out as a question rather than a statement.

"Oh, must be nice to work with your friends." Changkyun sighed, closed his eyes, and laid on his back on the ground. The September sun illuminating his face.  Jooheon had to admit that Changkyun was a good looking guy.

Tan soft skin, black hair in an undercut style, but unlike Kihyun who keeps his hair up on a quiff, Changkyun lets his hair fall on top of his brown eyes. When he smiles, a shy dimple shows on his left cheek, his lips were naturally pink and plump.

A soft looking guy, with a deep voice that didn’t match his appearance and probably nor his age, good and confident in what he does, also cocky as hell. That was the second impression Changkyun made on Jooheon, it was better than the first one to say the least.

"Ah, did Sir tell you about the plan?" Changkyun asked as he opened his eyes to look at Jooheon. The latter avoided the eye contact and stared at the rifle instead.

"Sir?"

"Yeah, leader-hyung."

"Oh."  _what the hell._ "No, he did not."

"Ok. I'm going to tell you instead."

-

"Thank you for coming today, Jooheon. You too, Kihyun." Hyunwoo said as the four of them walked toward Jooheon's black Volvo.

"It's good that we came to an agreement." Kihyun said, his eyes on Changkyun. "And you, you better not miss the shot, or I will personally disjoint your arms from your body."

"I've never missed an aim in my entire life." Changkyun said, determined.

-

When Jooheon and Kihyun were driving safely back to Jooheon’s apartment, Kihyun said with furrowed eyebrows: "I have a bad feeling about that Changkyun dude. One minute he acts as a scared kitten and another minute he is the toughest guy out there."

"Didn't you say just this morning that I'm the toughest guy out there?" Jooheon glanced at his friend briefly before focusing on the road again.

The furrowed eyebrows were successfully replaced by a small smile just because of a little sentence from Jooheon.

"Yes, you are." 

-

_25th September, 7P.M._

Changkyun was alone with his rifle on the rooftop of a tall skyscraper. Lying on his stomach, hiding perfectly from anyone’s sight, while watching his target closely.

Through Changkyun's scope, the Mafia member also known as James could be seen, sitting on a dinner table with a young looking man, a man that was playing his role perfectly in this theater play. His role consisted of a high quality prostitute named Brian. The actor's real name was Shin Hoseok, the specialist in luring men and women alike to the right place Changkyun needed them to be. A team work that Jooheon had to admire.

Hyunwoo and Kihyun were staying in a car a few blocks away from the theater stage, from the events that were gradually unfolding. Jooheon and Hyungwon had the supporting roles, the ones to improvise if anything goes out of control, to make sure that the spectators won’t notice the real blood that will be spilled as the bullet of the S&T Motiv K14 penetrates James’ brain.

The neighborhood was as loud as ever, busy streets and people hurrying to their destinations as the main character went on with his act of feeling hot in the small apartment and asking to go out to take a breather in the balcony. As predicted, Mr.James, the Mafia member, as well as the organ trafficker, followed Brian to the last place he will be visiting. 

Changkyun got in position, ready to execute his order while Hoseok, as skillful as he was known to be, pulled the old white man by the tie and smashed their lips together, his gaze on the skyscraper's rooftops, waiting for the other main character to put on the final show.

_1,_

_2,_

_3,_

_4,_

 

 

Hoseok counted beyond three which was unusual. Changkyun's bullets were always punctual. Something bad, extremely bad had happened.

"Let's take this to the bedroom." James said with a mischievous smile. Hoseok had to use every ounce of patience he had to not throw up right there. No, he will not have sex with an old, ugly man.

_Please, Changkyun don’t do this to me._

Brian smacked his lips with James again, in hopes that it will buy him some time. He tried all the tricks he knew to distract the man, to delay the inevitable. At last the mafia member grew impatient and disconnected their lips again and looked at Brian with a raised eyebrow.

 

"Let's go to the-"

 

James stopped talking mid-sentence, suddenly his eyes went wide as though Hoseok was a ghost, then blood streamed down from his right ear, thick and dark red. He fell on his knees, the shock on his face was almost comical. _You had it coming_. Hoseok thought. The man’s lips were trying to form coherent words, but unfortunately for him, death stole them away from his tongue as his forehead hit the white tiles.

 

Hoseok's heart was beating abnormally on his ribcage as he looked up at the rooftops of the building facing him, cursing Changkyun’s delay. What the hell was he doing up there?

 

**-Ten minutes earlier-**

 

Changkyun looked at his digital watch. 6:59PM. One more minute. He positioned himself, his left eye closed while the other was wide open, watching as Brian and James walked out to the balcony, both smiling, especially the old creep. Changkyun couldn't find it in him to blame the old man, Hoseok was a good looking man. Purple-ish white, dyed hair, blue contacts and pale skin, pointed nose and full lips. That was Hoseok. A model.

 

When Brian pulled James in for a kiss, Changkyun's watch beeped. It was finally time to pull the trigger.

 

_1_

_2_

_3_

 

"Hey, you! Stand up! Hands above your head!" A rough voice said from behind Changkyun. His heart almost stopped. Sweat formed on his temples, and he wished that it was all a bad dream.

 

He stood up, slowly raising his arms above his head, cautiously turning around, to see three men in suits and ties pointing their guns at him. He was frozen in his spot.

 

"Who are you? Who are you working with?" They interrogated, but Changkyun stayed silent. If he's going to die today, he's going to die with dignity.

 

"Speak up!" Another one said, raising his voice that was almost not audible among the loud Seoul’s streets.

 

From behind the men's backs, Changkyun saw a figure approaching. He tried his best to not show his shocked expressions when he realized it was Jooheon with his gun pointed toward one of the men's heads.

 

Jooheon pulled the trigger sending a bullet toward the man that was standing in the middle, and with that everything escalated. Unlike action movies where everything starts to move in a slow motion, Jooheon's second bullet penetrated the man in the heart in a blink, while simultaneously the third man’s bullet was quick to shoot Changkyun in his supposedly dominant arm, the right one.

 

Jooheon cursed loudly at how late he was at shooting the last man standing. He ran as fast as he could toward Changkyun who was on his knees, eyes closed, and hand squeezing his right shoulder. It hurt like hell. Changkyun had never experienced something as painful as this, he felt his eyes getting humid and his lips trembling which made Jooheon understand that it was Changkyun's first time getting shot.

 

As quickly as he could, Jooheon took off his jacket and t-shirt, tearing the latter in messy halves, he wrapped the piece of cloth around Changkyun's shoulder and knotted it. Changkyun winced, tears finally falling from his eyes. Somehow, Jooheon felt as though it was him being in pain.

 

"It's OK, we will treat it and it will be as good as new." Jooheon said as though he was talking to a little kid.

 

When the leader put his arms around Changkyun's back to help him stand, he was stopped by the latter's whisper.

 

"Stop. No. I haven't done my duty." Changkyun said, out of breath.

 

"But your sho-"

 

"I can use my left hand too." Changkyun's voice was only slightly above a whisper. He crawled toward the rifle that was neglected at the edge of the rooftop. He breathed in and out, got in position, hand on the trigger. He counted till three before he pulled it, and stayed still until he made sure that the piece of crap was really dead.

 

As though James' death was a cue, Changkyun’s injury sent jolts of electricity throughout his entire body. He winced loudly, squeezing his eyes shut, and bit his bottom lip roughly, he tasted blood on the tip of his tongue, but that was nothing compared to the blood that was pooling out from his shoulder.

 

Jooheon ran toward him and carried him bridal style without thinking twice, it was the most convenient thing to do in this situation.

 

"Changkyun, stay with me." Jooheon tried to keep Changkyun conscious throughout the lift's travel toward the skyscraper's underground garage. Changkyun's soft humming was the only indication that he was still connected to the real world.

 

Jooheon wasted no time as he walked as fast as he could while carrying a grown man in his arms to his car, where Hyungwon was supposed to be waiting for him.

 

"Hyungwon?" Jooheon called out for his friend, as he opened the car's back door and laid Changkyun's bleeding body on the back seat. The blood will be a bitch to clean up but Jooheon didn't find it in himself to care about such a trivial thing.

 

Jooheon called his friend's name multiple times but no one answered. Where the fuck did he go? Why was everything going out of control? Even though the actual mission was already done. The mafia member was dead, as well as his bodyguards. But, how will Hoseok get out of the apartment that was guarded by who knows how many people? Will Hyunwoo and Kihyun be able to get rid of the bodies and the blood successfully before the police arrive? And where the hell did Hyungwon go?

 

There's no way Jooheon could find answers to these questions while a bleeding Changkyun was in his back seat.

 

Jooheon got in the car, started the engine and was out of the garage in a blink. As soon as he was two blocks away from the scene, his phone started ringing. He put it on speakers without looking at the caller ID.

 

"Hello. This is Hyunwoo, I'm calling from Hyungwon’s phone." _Oh, Hyungwon was safe, at least._ "Did you kill the three men?"

 

"Yes. Wait, how did you know?" Jooheon asked suspiciously.

 

"No time to explain. I'm calling to inform you that the plan is being executed as we suspected." Hyunwoo said.

 

"Not quite. Changkyun got shot." He said while briefly looking back at the silent corpse in his backseat.

 

"Oh. Ok." Hyunwoo paused for a second. "I'm going to hang up."

 

"Wait, what the fuck?" Jooheon was baffled beyond belief.

 

"The important is that Hoseok didn't find any difficulties escaping from the apartment. Changkyun is a tough guy, he will get through it. Now, I need to go. See you." He hang up as soon as he finished his sentence.

 

What the fuck did he mean by _The most important thing is Hoseok’s safety_? Was Changkyun not important in his book? What kind of leader is Hyunwoo?

 

Jooheon shook the unnecessary questions out of his mind and focused back on driving to his hideout as fast as he could.

 

As fast as he could meant thirty minutes. He couldn't take Changkyun to a hospital. That would grab the police's attention and investigations. Plus, Jooheon was a better doctor when it came to taking bullets off of flesh.

 

The hideout was a small house in a town outside the city. It consisted of only a few houses inhabited by retired old couples that get visited once in a year by their grandsons and granddaughters. It was the perfect place in Kihyun's opinion, no one would suspect anything, since the police don't come around here often because what could happen in a neighborhood full of old people except expected deaths, and heart attacks?

 

 

Jooheon, with much struggle, took Changkyun's body out of the car, before closing the door with the back of his feet.  Opening the house’s door was almost mission impossible but he did it nevertheless.

 

At first glance the house looked normal, as if it belonged to an eighty year old woman. Parquet spread through the entire house, and facing the front door, there was a living room with a fireplace that had never been used before. A staircase was placed at the front door's right. Jooheon walked up the stairs, and opened the first door to his right.

 

The walls were a blinding white as well as the floor, two beds were pushed at the far end of the spacious room. One was occupied by a guy which was sleeping soundly as the heart machine was beeping softly beside him. He's been sleeping for two weeks and no one knows when he'll wake up.

 

Jooheon ignored the swelling on his chest at Minhyuk's sleeping figure and drove Changkyun to the empty bed. A table was next to the bed, full of medical and surgery equipment. Jooheon wore a pair of plastic gloves and started his second job, a doctor.

 

After an hour, the bullet was on the metallic table, Changkyun's shoulder was stitched up and wrapped up with bandages. His eyes were closed, and face was more relaxed and more peaceful. Hyunwoo’s words came back to Jooheon’s mind as he washed his bloody hands on the kitchen's sink, and walked to his room that was next to the mini hospital to change his stained clothes. Was Hyunwoo that much of an asshole?

 

Suddenly, his phone started ringing on the bed where he threw it when he was putting on his new clothes. The caller ID read Hyungwon.

 

"Hello, Jooheon." It was finally one of his friends’ voices. "We are waiting for you in the warehouse for the final settlements."

 

"Ok. Will be there in an hour." Jooheon said and hang up.

 

He went back to the white room to see Minhyuk. He looked at his sleeping friend sadly.

 _When will you wake up? We aren't truly happy without you, especially Hyungwon, despite his fake facade. Please come back to us soon_. Jooheon thought as he moved a piece of platinum hair from Minhyuk's eyes. He smiled bitter sweetly and walked toward the door. With a last glance at the two sleeping figures, his best friend’s and potential enemy’s, he walked out of the house and drove back to the warehouse.

 

 

-

When he got there, Hyunwoo, Kihyun, Hyungwon and Hoseok were waiting for him in front of the immense white door. As soon as his friends saw him, they walked toward him with happy smiles which never failed to make him feel better.

 

"Are you ok?" He asked, putting both of his hands on each of his friends' shoulders.

 

"Yes, don't worry, leader." Kihyun assured.

 

"I'm sorry I left you alone back in the garage. Kihyun called me, asking for help." Hyungwon explained, Jooheon just nodded his head.

 

"Everything went as planned so the money we were promised came as they are." Hyunwoo said, opening a black bag which was full of money. Jooheon felt like throwing up as he took it.

 

"You know that your member was shot. Don't you care?" Jooheon asked the question that was bugging him since his phone call with Hyunwoo two hours ago.

 

"Hoseok is an older member, and more important than Changkyun as well." Hyunwoo began his explanation and Jooheon already felt like punching the asshole in the guts. "The apartment was guarded by four guards. I sent them a message informing them that there's two dudes in the skyscraper in front of them that wanted to kill their boss, I was hoping that all of them would leave to check if the news were true so Hoseok could escape easily, but only three did."

 

"Did anyone tell you that you're an asshole before?" Jooheon asked sarcastically.

 

"You have nothing to complain about. If I remember correcty, your one and only rule was that your friends to not get hurt, as far as I know, Changkyun isn't your friend." Hyunwoo was smirking. _Piece of shit_. "Anyway, your money is with you, your precious friends are also with you. My money is with me, my most important member is with me, and Changkyun will soon follow. No causalities, no important incidents. Our deal ends now."

 

"Sure it does." Jooheon paused for a heartbeat. "Piece of shit." He said what he thought. And walked away from the cursed warehouse, followed by his friends toward the black Volvo.

 

 

-

 

The entire ride was relatively quiet, except for Hyungwon’s complaints about the smell and the stains of blood in the backseat. Kihyun sat silently in the passenger seat, looking outside the window with his ear buds on, blasting rock music, and Hyungwon was probably asleep.

“Why are we going to the hideout?” Kihyun asked when he noticed that Jooheon was taking the highway.

“I wanna check on Minhyuk.” He lied. Kihyun, fortunately, bought it.

 

As soon as they parked the car in the hideout’s garage, Jooheon fled toward the house, leaving a clueless Kihyun and a sleepy head Hyungwon behind.

 

When he opened the white room's door, his eyes first fell on Minhyuk's bed. It was the same, his friend was safe. But when his gaze traveled to the other bed, it was empty.

 

As he got closer to the bed, he realized it wasn't really empty, a note was sitting on it. Jooheon carefully took it between his fingers.

 

 

 

**_Thank you for treating my injury,_ **

**_And don’t worry, I won't tell anyone about your hideout._ **

**_Changkyun._ **

 

Jooheon read the note while sitting on the bed. He read it more than twice. He didn't know why, but Changkyun's handwriting was nice, much like his face and, Jooheon must admit, personality. He was shot, but decided to continue his duty even if the pain was unbearable. Jooheon had gotten shot many times so he knew how painful it was, especially the first time. His first time had happened when he was sixteen. He had wished death instead of that tremendous torture.

 

Hyunwoo didn't deserve someone loyal like Changkyun.

 

With that thought in his mind, and the note in his pocket, he got up from the bed and was ready to leave until a scratched voice stopped him.

 

"Jooheon?" Minhyuk said softly.

 

Jooheon looked back to see Minhyuk looking at him through half opened eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jookyun moments will be present starting from next chapter (which is almost done). Also, comments, kudos or any type of feedback would be much appreciated.
> 
> Let’s be friends and hmu on twitter: lgbtjookyun or tumblr: atiisawriter
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter Two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to update Sunday but here I am. Also, I didn't mention this in the previous chapter but English is not my native language so excuse me for any mistakes.

After the deal with Hyunwoo, Jooheon had no time to think about the rival gang. Minhyuk woke up from his two weeks coma, which was a huge relief to everyone, they were waiting for that moment for so long, and it felt like a reward for their hard work during the deal.

When they told Minhyuk about it, he was beyond furious. He told them that they should’ve learned their lesson the first time, and no matter how much the deal was alluring they should’ve declined it. He also confessed how much he hated Hyunwoo, he had this negative vibe to him, as though he was hiding something nasty, he also looked like someone who would do anything for his own benefit, Jooheon agreed with that sentiment.

Jooheon, though, didn’t tell anyone about bringing the rival gang member to their hideout. Jooheon didn’t believe it was a mistake, it was the right thing to do under those circumstances, he had only two choices; either leave the guy to die or treat his injury, the second one seemed more logical. Kihyun would’ve understood if Jooheon took the time to explain everything to him, but the leader didn’t want to spoil the happiness they had at the moment.

“Guys, I’m craving pizza.” Hyungwon, also known as the food consuming machine, said, as they all sat in the living room, the TV was playing some action movie that Hyungwon and Minhyuk were enjoying. The fireplace was lit for the very first time since they bought the house.

They were in the emergency hideout because Minhyuk had just woken up from his deep sleep two days ago, and they didn’t want to risk taking him back to the district.

“Same.” Minhyuk agreed, then Kihyun followed, which left Jooheon with no other choice but to order two large pizzas.

While Jooheon was in the kitchen ordering the food, the three friends left in the living room started whispering.

“Guys, I’m sensing something weird about Jooheon. He’s quieter than usual.” Minhyuk said as quietly as he could.

“Me too. I bet he’s hiding something.” Hyungwon said, nodding his head in agreement.

“Let’s make a bet. Each one of us should guess what Jooheon’s hiding, whoever gets it right or almost right wins.” Minhyuk offered. And all of them were ok with the bright idea.

“I bet 200.000 won that he is hiding something that had happened during our deal with Hyunwoo.” Hyungwon said his bet, pretty confident in his guess.

“Nah. I bet 300.000 won that it’s a love interest. A new partner or someone that he likes.” Minhyuk said with a shit eating grin.

“Y’all are bad at this.” Kihyun was shaking his head, as though his friends were saying absolute bullshit. “I bet 500.000 won that it’s nothing, Jooheon would never hide anything from us.”

“You’re a joy killer, you know that, right?” Minhyuk said, desperate.  Kihyun shrugged.

“Who’s a joy killer?” Jooheon asked as he walked back to his former place on the couch, next to Kihyun.

“Just Hyungwon, he doesn’t want to change this bad movie.” Kihyun was bad at lying, which was crystal clear to everyone in the room, they all sighed at their hopeless friend.

Jooheon just laughed at how weird this bunch could be sometimes.

 

After a few minutes of watching the extremely boring movie, the doorbell rang. Jooheon volunteered to open it. He was as excited as them for the food, but he didn’t like to show it.

Unfortunately for Jooheon’s hidden excitement, it wasn’t the food deliverer that stood on his front porch, but someone completely unexpected.

_Changkyun._

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jooheon whispered-yelled.

“Just came to say thanks.” Changkyun said as though it’s the most natural thing to do.

Jooheon closed the door momentarily in Changkyun’s face, yelled “Guys, I have to go, you can eat the food without me.” Then wore his sneakers as fast as he could and left the house with a Changkyun being dragged by the hand behind him.

Fortunately, the car wasn’t in the garage. So Jooheon was able to shove Changkyun inside the passenger seat, turn around the car, get in the driver seat and drive away from the house, all in an impeccable speed, he felt the urge to pat himself on the back for doing such a good job. If any of his friends saw Changkyun standing at their hideout, there would be so much explaining and blaming and headache to go through.

“What was that for?” Changkyun said with wide eyes.

 “Why did you come to the hideout?” Jooheon was glaring at the road ahead of him.

“I told you why.” Changkyun was too nonchalant for Jooheon’s liking, but then it hit him. “Oh. You didn’t tell your friends that you brought me to the hideout.”

“Yes. And you were two seconds away from fucking a lot of shit up.” Jooheon said bitterly.

“I didn’t know.” Changkyun said quietly, looking at his fingers.

The ride was silent for a moment before Jooheon stopped the engine beside a deserted park.

 

“Now, what?” Jooheon said, staring holes at Changkyun. “You better say a good excuse for being here besides thanking me.”

“I’m hungry.” Changkyun blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

“What?” Jooheon was baffled.

“I said: I’m hungry. I would die for a burger, right now. It’s on me.” Changkyun said with pleading eyes.

Why was Changkyun acting friendly all of a sudden? Was he really grateful for Jooheon’s help? Was he finally fed up with Hyunwoo’s behavior? Whatever the hell it was, Jooheon will go with it and see where it leads.

“Ok.” Jooheon answered shortly, and started the engine again. They both were far away from their district so they shouldn’t be afraid of someone seeing the two of them together. That would be pretty bad for both of them. Jooheon could only imagine how Hyunwoo’s reaction would be like if he finds out about this, about his loyal member with a rival, an enemy.

Jooheon drove to the closest burger house, Changkyun should deal with it. When they walked inside the shop, the smell of meat greeted them. It was not a bad idea to come here after all.

The waitress welcomed them, and showed them the way to an empty table in the far back of the fairly big shop which wasn’t really crowded. She took their orders and left.

“Does your boss know you’re here or that I took you to my hideout?” Jooheon asked, not expecting an honest answer.

“No. He wouldn’t approve of me coming to see you. And as for your second question: no. I promised that I would not.” Changkyun said, his elbow propped on the table, and his face on his hand.

Changkyun’s words sounded pretty honest to Jooheon, there was no hesitation nor malice in them. If Changkyun was lying, then he was a professional, he deserved an award for it.

The waitress came back in record time, carrying a large burger with every kind of topping in one hand for Changkyun, and a small burger with tomatoes and onions in the other hand for Jooheon.

Changkyun almost instantly attacked his burger, taking huge bites, pleasure showing on his face. _What a kid._

Jooheon wasn’t sure why he was here, eating dinner with a rival, but he better make a good use out of it. 

Changkyun, in Jooheon’s opinion, was a cocky, confident guy that was new to all of this, which was probably why he worshiped his leader. Jooheon suspected that they both had some kind of back story that made Changkyun grateful for Hyunwoo. Also, Changkyun wasn’t one to maintain an image for himself. He didn’t maintain the image of the tough, unbreakable guy because he often showed his weaknesses and even his tears. He didn’t keep the image of the soft guy either, because as much as he had weaknesses, his strength and determined behavior were remarkable. He didn’t claim to have the brains, even if he was pretty smart, as he quickly convinced Jooheon to agree with Hyunwoo’s deal. But then at the same time, he did some pretty dumb shit, for example being here with Jooheon. Changkyun was quite the puzzle and Jooheon wanted to figure him out, while simultaneously taking advantage of his all-over-the-place personality.

 

He decided to taste the waters now by asking a pretty provocative question.

 

“Why do you seem like you respect your boss so much? A little bit too much.” Jooheon asked, anticipating a shocked expression or a curse word being thrown at him, but none of that came. Instead, Changkyun looked at his plate for a second so he can swallow his huge ass bite and then he began talking.

“He took me in when I had no one, he helped me so much, and I owe him a lot.” Changkyun explained while looking at Jooheon. It felt pretty sincere. It was hard to not believe the look on Changkyun’s eyes.

“What do you mean?” Jooheon pushed further.

“Last month, my parents kicked me out so I had nowhere to stay. Hyunwoo found me and offered me a place to stay.” Changkyun explained as he wiped his lips.

“Then, how did you learn how to handle a rifle?” Jooheon was no longer tasting the waters, he was genuinely curious.

“My father was a sniper, he taught me since I was twelve.” Changkyun answered easily. “What about you? How did you learn how to handle a gun?”

“My previous gang’s leader taught me how to use a gun and other things.” Jooheon found himself answering without thinking twice. His eyes widened when he realized his mistake. It felt natural to answer honestly to a person that has only been honest with him. _Fuck._

“I have to go.” Jooheon suddenly stood up, searching through his pockets for money.

“Ah? But you didn’t eat your burger.” Changkyun said while standing up too.

At last, Jooheon found money on his jeans’ back pocket, he slammed it on the table and started walking out of the burger house in large steps. Changkyun followed closely behind him.

When they both were standing outside the shop, it was already dark, the sky was full of clouds, indicating that there’s great chances that it’d rain tonight.

The cool air hit Jooheon’s face, which helped to calm him down from his sudden panic attack. He might’ve slipped earlier but it won’t happen again. He will continue with his new plan. Changkyun’s tongue was easily pulled out, he was extremely honest with his words and nonchalant and Jooheon could use this to his advantage. Changkyun may or may not tell him a useful fact or two about Hyunwoo. Jooheon will not rest until he kicks out that piece of scum outside his district, to humiliate him, to even kill him if he had to.

“So?” Changkyun said from beside Jooheon when the latter stayed silent while staring at nothing in particular. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, what about you?” Jooheon asked, putting in a fake friendly face. If he wants Changkyun to trust him enough to tell him something he could use against Hyunwoo, he has to be as friendly as possible, but not too friendly, he will take it step by step so Changkyun won’t notice.

Being a gang leader requires being like this, being a piece of shit. Too bad for Changkyun for being in Hyunwoo’s gang.

“Huh?” Changkyun was startled for a moment by the question.

“Your shoulder, is it ok?” Jooheon rephrased it.

“Oh yeah. You did a good job treating it. Thank you again.” Changkyun said with a small smile, his dimple slightly showing.

“It’s ok.” Jooheon said as a loud thunder drowned his words and spread in the sky, followed shortly by raindrops falling onto the pavement. Jooheon and Changkyun were protected from the sudden rain by the shop’s roof.

“I’m going to ask the waitress if they have an extra umbrella. Wait here.” Changkyun said quickly, and disappeared inside the shop.

Jooheon brought a packet of cigarettes from his front pocket, and lighted one. He let the smoke get into his lungs as he stared at the street’s floor getting wetter by the second, and people running to their cars, or searching for shelters, which distracted him from thinking too much into what he was currently doing.

The leader always loved the rain and never understood why people seemed to hate it so much. He wished he could turn back to being a seven year old kid with no worries nor responsibilities, so he could stand under the big and heavy raindrops, run and twirl under the water that washed him from head to toe, to be able to taste the salt on his skin later on, to stand under the shower while being already wet and cold. He wished to experience being free once again.

“I love the rain too.” Changkyun was back with an umbrella in his hand. “I wish I could turn back to being a kid so I can stand under the rain without being judged.”

Jooheon smile was mirroring Changkyun’s. They stood quietly for a few minutes, Jooheon smoking his cigarette and Changkyun leaning on the wall behind him.

When Jooheon finished his cigarette, he brushed it against the hard grey wall behind him, and when he was about to throw it on the ground, Changkyun stopped him, pointing at the bin outside the shop.

“Care much about the environment.” Jooheon remarked and Changkyun glared at him.

“Care much to give me your number?” Changkyun asked, and Jooheon had to suppress a real laugh at that poor attempt.

“Real smooth.” He said sarcastically. “Give me your phone.” They exchanged phones. Jooheon finished first while Changkyun took an eternity to type in his number.

“Here” He finally gave the phone back to its owner.

 

_Mobile: +82 2 254 6593_

_Name: Handsome Man._

_Description: The greatest man alive, Im Changkyun._

Jooheon gave Changkyun a look that said _Fucking serious?_ Changkyun just shrugged

 

“Let me walk you to your car, and I will take a taxi back to my place.” Changkyun said as he opened the umbrella. Jooheon snatched it away from him.

“I’m taller.” He said, as though it explained everything. “I’m taller so I would cover both of us better.” He explained further when he saw Changkyun’s hurt pride through his glare.

“Whatever.” The shorter said as they both walked toward the Volvo, that was a few steps away. Jooheon handed the umbrella back to Changkyun when they arrived to the car. “Thank you for today, Jooheon.”

“It’s ok.” Jooheon said as he got in his car. Changkyun waited for him to un-park and drive away before he hunted for his taxi.

 

-

 

The rain had thankfully stopped when Jooheon arrived to his district. The streets were deserted, everyone was in their warm houses while Jooheon was outside making sure that everything’s in order. Jooheon wasn’t complaining, he’s never complained about anything.

He had chosen this life, he had to deal with it, but he didn’t regret his choice either, he’s never regretted his choices.

As a leader, regretting your choices will only weaken you and the people you’re leading. It’s sort of a chain, a choice leads to another choice which leads to another one, by the time you arrive at the third one, you completely forget about the very first one, the one that took you here. You may not even realize that the simple decision you’ve made one hour ago was the one that led you to make this incredibly risky choice.

This was his old gang’s leader philosophy and Jooheon adopted it unconsciously at first, but now he’s completely conscious of it and it had worked for him so far.

After a while of walking in the quiet streets, he felt his ears ringing again so he decided to put on some music. When he unlocked his phone, Changkyun’s contact information glared at him with full luminosity. Jooheon shook his head at the name and the description the younger gave himself.

**To Handsome Man:**

_“You said the burgers were on you but I ended up paying…”_

He sent the text, not bothering to change the contact name.

Jooheon’s decision to listen to music had led him to make this pretty risky choice of sending his rival a text, but when the time comes where the results of this choice show, Jooheon was pretty sure that he will have forgotten that the main reason these negative or positive results were happening was because he once, while feeling bored, decided to listen to some Hip Hop.

-

 

The answer to his risky text came while he was preparing to sleep.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Next time I will make sure to be the one to pay_.”

 _There’s going to be a next time._  Jooheon thought, as he typed a non-conversational “ok” but another text from Changkyun stopped him.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Guess what I changed your contact name to? (For cautiousness purposes)”_

**To Handsome Man:**

_“What?”_

The answer came in a blink of an eye.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Tough Panda TM”_

**To Handsome Man:**

_“What the hell why? And what does tm mean?”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Bc idk, omg you don’t know the tm meme thingy HAHA are u an old man”_

Jooheon looked at the text as though it was written in gibberish.

**To Handsome Man:**

_“What’s a memme?”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Attached picture;-_

_This is a meme, it’s also called a reaction pic”_

_“I still can’t believe u don’t know what a meme is”_

_“Old man”_

Three texts came at once, _Changkyun is sure a passionate text sender_ , Jooheon thought.

 

**To Handsome Man:**

_“I’m only 25 y/o”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“OML”_

_“Bye gtg”_

**To Handsome Man:**

_“Ok bye.”_

Jooheon locked his phone and was about to put it on the night stand when it vibrated again.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“NO, I don’t mean I’m really going it’s also a meme”_

_“Uh nvm”_

_“Ur old”_

_“I’m 19 heh”_

Jooheon stared at the text for a few seconds, in a complete shock, Changkyun was not only a kid in his behavior but was actually a child, literally.

**To Handsome Man:**

_“Gotta change your contact name to handsome boy now”_

Jooheon tried to be witty.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Ohhhh”_

_“I see u changing the man bc I’m not actually a man yet”_

_“But u aint changing the handsome bc im actually handsome”_

_“Amirite”_

 

Jooheon failed at being witty. Changkyun was a professional on being witty and saying bad pickup lines. Why was Jooheon even trying? Speaking of which, he should be sleeping right now, instead of talking to Changkyun, but this was part of the plan after all. If winning against Hyunwoo meant losing some sleep, then he’s willing to make that sacrifice.

 

**To Handsome Man:**

_“Gd”_

 

Jooheon sent one last test, he locked his phone and put it on the night stand. It vibrated but he didn’t bother to check it out.

 

-

 

“Guys, ohmygod!” Hyungwon said excitedly while running toward Kihyun and Minhyuk that were sitting in Jooheon’s living room.

The three of them drove back to the district in the morning. And yes, they had the keys to Jooheon's apartment.

“What?” Kihyun said, anticipating some dumb shit to come out of Hyungwon’s mouth.

“I just went to wake up Jooheon, which is weird because he never sleeps past eight, right?”

They nodded, waiting for the big news.

“Anyway, when I wanted to wake him up, his phone lit up. He got a text from his phone’s line company, but wait for it,” He said, building up the suspense. “He also got a text from someone called _Handsome Man_.” All of their eyes were wide at the unexpected heavy news.

“What did it say?” Minhyuk said with a shocked expression.

“It said: _Goodnight tough panda.”_ Hyungwon said as though he just solved a third degree equation. All of them gasped.

“I told y’all so!” Minhyuk yelled, raising a fist up in the air.

“Calm the fuck down, won’t you?” Jooheon said, while leaning on the door frame. At that, their expressions changed to ones that belonged to little kids that just got caught stealing candy.

 _Oh. It was one of those days where all of them acted weird, even Kihyun. Why am I even here?_ Jooheon thought bitterly as he walked toward the refrigerator to get a banana.

While eating his banana, he felt three pairs of eyes staring holes at him, he looked up. Kihyun, Minhyuk and Hyungwon were lined up on the couch, their arms crossed, and eyes wide open following his every move.

“What?” He asked before he took a big chunk of his banana.

“Are you by any chance, gay?” Minhyuk blurted out.

 

Jooheon choked on his banana until he turned red.

Kihyun face palmed himself to oblivion.

Hyungwon buried his face on the nearest pillow to suppress his laugh.

 

“What the hell? Does eating a banana makes you gay?” Jooheon asked after he got over the shock, swallowed his banana bite and drank a good amount of water.

“No, just asking. Ya know, you can tell us everything.” Minhyuk said with a weird smile. Kihyun wanted to put tape on his friend’s mouth, because the more he talked, the more he messed up.

“Ok…” Jooheon said suspiciously. “I’m going to take a shower.”

When Jooheon was out of sight and earshot, they began speaking again.

 

 

“What the hell, Minhyuk, you just don’t ask people those questions.” Kihyun said and hit Minhyuk on the head. The latter winced and rubbed his head.

“Why?” He pouted.

“It’s something people decide to share with you when they are ready not something you ask them. Because there’s a huge chance that you’d be asking them at the wrong time, when they are not ready to say anything, so you’d be forcing them to lie, which will make them feel bad, really bad.” Kihyun explained.

Minhyuk’s mouth formed an ‘o’

“How do you know this much? Are you gay too?” Minhyuk asked, and both Kihyun and Hyungwon groaned in defeat.

-

When Jooheon finished his shower and wearing his clothes, they all sat on the infamous black leather couch, the couch that had endured so much of their bullshit.

“Brad called me yesterday, he said that Jason’s making some problems with Jinyoung.” Kihyun said.

“I got the news too, what the hell is he trying to do?” Jooheon said, rubbing his temples.

“I have no idea, he said it’s over the drugs that were supposed to arrive to Jinyoung yesterday.” Kihyun explained, and Jooheon just nodded, thinking of a way to solve the problem. The drug dealer, Jason, has been making so much trouble, and the blame always came to chase Jooheon because the district was known to be under his control.

“What kind of drugs?” Minhyuk asked.

“Nothing heavy, acid and ecstasy. They were supposed to be delivered to Jinyoung two days ago but Jason and his guys delayed the arrival.” Kihyun said with a sigh. “He probably took advantage of our absence. I should’ve stayed.”

“I want to try LSD.” Minhyuk said dreamily, everyone ignored his statement and continued the important conversation.

“Last time you stayed here, Minhyuk got shot in his arm, and hit his head. We need you with us.” Jooheon remarked “Kihyun, you go talk to Jinyoung. You know the drill and what to say in these kind of situations. And I will talk to Jason.” He paused to look at Hyungwon. “And you, you take Minhyuk with you to your house and make sure he doesn’t slip in the shower, ok?”

“Why do you always give Kihyun the interesting jobs, why should I babysit Minhyuk?” Hyungwon complained.

“Remember last time I sent you to an _interesting job_ but you ended being kidnapped?” Jooheon reminded Hyungwon of the memory that made all of them shiver.

“It was two years ago!” Hyungwon began to raise his voice.

“Hey, don’t raise your voice.” Kihyun put his hand on Hyungwon’s shoulder to calm down the situation that was escalating too quickly.

“Don’t touch me, you’ve always been his favorite so what do you know anyway.” Hyungwon said bitterly and swatted Kihyun’s hand away. He stormed out of the apartment the sound of the clicking of the hills of his feet echoing in the quiet room.

After a few seconds of a prolonged silence, Minhyuk spoke up with a small voice.

“I’m sorry for being a burden.”

That hurt quite a lot.

Joohean and Kihyun both knew that Hyungwon did not mean it that way. They both witnessed how sad Hyungwon was when Minhyuk did not wake up the day after he was shot. They both were there when Hyungwon cried and hugged his friend’s body close to his chest, refusing to let Jooheon treat Minhyuk’s injury.

They knew but Minhyuk did not.

“Don’t say that, Hyungwon did not mean it like that.” Kihyun said, scooting closer to his friend, and rubbed his back in a comforting manner.

Jooheon rubbed his face and shook his head, trying to clear and sort his thoughts out. He will deal with Hyungwon later because picking a fight with Jinyoung will be dangerous. Plus, he and Jinyoung had made a deal four years ago to stay away from each other, to not get involved in whatever the other did, and now Jason was doing exactly the opposite.

“Kihyun, I’m going now to see Jason, you go as soon as possible to see Jinyoung.” Jooheon said, without looking at any of his friends because he knew if he looked at their faces, he will weaken, he will feel bad and sad, and he didn’t want that. Not when he was going to scold one of his men, not when he had to be the leader and not the friend.

-

 

Jooheon sent a quick test to Kihyun, informing him that his discussion with Jason went well, and that the problem was solved. Kihyun answered with: _Good. I’m on my way to Jinyoung’s._

Here he was, smoking the tenth cigarette in a park hours away from everything. He knew, ages ago, that Hyungwon will explode one day, will face him with how he felt, because Jooheon had to admit that he’s been treating his friend differently since the kidnapping incident. But he couldn’t help himself, he was worried. His overprotective behavior resulted this, resulted Hyungwon thinking that Kihyun was Jooheon’s favorite. Jooheon did not have a favorite, he loved them and cared about them all equally, but he knew that the way he acted didn’t show that, it showed quite the opposite.

Jooheon’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He was quick to check who it was.

Not someone he expected.

_Changkyun._

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Yo, did u die”_

Iconic. Truly spot on.

Jooheon looked at the text for more than he should have, contemplating if he wants to answer or not.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Are u ok dude?”_

Ah, fuck it.

**To Handsome Man:**

_“Yeah”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“u didn’t answer so I thought something happened”_

**To Handsome Man:**

_“No, was just was busy with work”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Ohh, are u still busy?”_

Was he busy? Well, he did what he had to do, anyway.

**To Handsome Man:**

_“no”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Wanna meet?”_

Jooheon may’ve wanted to lie to himself and say that he was doing this for the sake of the plan, the plan to kick out Hyunwoo. But in all honesty, he was not. In fact, he was just so done and tired at the moment, he just wanted to forget about the shitty morning he had, and Changkyun was the first person to talk to him, so it was convenient.

 

**To Handsome Man:**

_“ok”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Took u long enough to answer lol, where tho?”_

**To Handsome Man:**

_“Idk, wherever you want”_

It took Changkyun longer than usual to answer, but when he did, Jooheon understood why.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“What about the warehouse?”_

When Jooheon was writing the answer, another text came in.

**From Handsome Man:**

_“Eeeh why did I ask that, nvm nvm”_

**To Handsome Man:**

_“It’s ok with me, as long as you aren’t planning to kill me or smthing”_

**From Handsome Man:**

_“No haha”_

Jooheon laughed at that.

**To Handsome Man:**

_“That’s exactly what a killer would say to his target.”_

_-_

 

The drive to the warehouse took longer than usual since he was far away from the district. Jooheon knew what he was doing was dangerous, he could get himself killed, but he also knew that he didn’t want to go back to his apartment to be alone with his thoughts. He’s blaming all of his current actions on the events that occurred this morning which was absurd, but he wasn’t a reasonable person anyway, and Kihyun, the voice of reason, wasn’t with him.

 

Jooheon parked the car close to the warehouse, just in case. At least he had a bit of reason left in his rotten brain.

He knocked on the door twice, but instead of the door being opened, he heard whistling coming from above. He looked up to see Changkyun’s silhouette. Jooheon understood that Changkyun wanted him up there, so he walked around the warehouse to the ladder and climbed it just like last time.

As soon as Jooheon’s head peeked from the top of the roof, he experienced a déjavu. Changkyun with his gun pointed at his face, Jooheon’s wide eyes and racing heart, and a complete silence.

It was quiet for a second that felt like years, until Changkyun’s loud laugh broke the silence. Jooheon frowned in confusion, but was also grateful in the depth of his heart.

“Ohmygod, the look on your face.” Changkyun said between laughs while sitting on a blue blanket that Jooheon just noticed now that his brain was working normally again.

Jooheon, silently, continued climbing the ladder, then walked toward Changkyun with large steps while taking his gun out from behind his back. He knelt to be at the same level as Changkyun, and with his free hand, he grabbed Changkyun’s both wrists, pushed him and pinned his arms above his head.

 

The laugh died on the back of his throat. His eyes squeezed shut when he felt the cold metal of the gun near his temple. Changkyun expression was of pure fright, and Jooheon enjoyed it a bit too much. Maybe because it indicated that he wasn’t the only one with his guards down, Changkyun, too, was weirdly too comfortable around him. They both were playing an extremely dangerous game.

Any of them could kill the other in a blink of an eye, could ruin their life. But the question was: _who will do it first?_

Jooheon let go of Changkyun’s wrists, and got off of him. He distantly heard Changkyun sigh, probably of relief.

“Well, that was something.” Changkyun said, his eyes still closed but more relaxed, a small weird smile on his face.

When he spoke, Jooheon looked at him. And again, like the first time they met, Changkyun and the setting sun were a good combination. But this time, he looked somehow more familiar, more transparent than the first time.

“You started it.” Jooheon countered.

“So, you’re the type to take jokes too far.” Changkyun said as he opened his eyes. Jooheon, this time, didn’t avoid the eye contact, he simply did not want to.

“You could say that.” He agreed with the remark. He has been told many times that his sense of humor was shit. “By the way, won’t Hyunwoo find us here?”

“No. He doesn’t come here without telling me first. This is my current home.” Changkyun explained.

“That would mean that he brings your enemies to your own house, isn’t that dangerous for you?”

“It was my idea, not leader-Hung’s.”

“And why is that?” Jooheon was truly confused.

“To show my loyalty.” He answered briefly, getting up from laying on his back, and sat next to Jooheon.

Jooheon could understand that. He, himself, had done a lot of bad shit to prove his loyalty to his old bosses. It was an unwritten rule in this world, a world full of cheaters, spies and liars.

“Hyunwoo is an asshole, he doesn’t deserve how you treat him.” Jooheon knew that he has been crossing so many lines, and this one was the red one, judging by Changkyun’s intense glare at the hard floor.

“Don’t talk about him like that.” Changkyun said relatively calmly.

“I’ve known him before you, I’m just saying what I think about him.” Jooheon shrugged nonchalantly.

“Well, if we’re considering this a confession session, then I don’t like that guy Kihyun, he’s rude.” Changkyun said, knowing that would make Jooheon mad.

“He is not rude, shut up.” Jooheon said, irritated at the fact that anyone could even say such a thing.

Changkyun looked at Jooheon with an annoyed look. Well, yeah, if Jooheon thought he’s allowed to criticize Hyunwoo, then Changkyun should be able to tell his opinion on Kihyun.

“The sky from up here, at nights, looks pretty amazing.” Changkyun, not so smoothly, changed the subject.

“You’re too cheesy to be a gang member.” Jooheon sounded sarcastic. Well when does he not. But now, he was completely honest.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re too soft looking?” Jooheon said, unsure of his own explanation. “Like, you probably are a nerd who reads books as a hobby, and counts the stars when you’re bored.”

Changkyun’s expressions were comical.

“How did you know?” Changkyun was shocked.

“Don’t look so shocked, nerd is written on your forehead.” Changkyun had a weird expression on his face as he lightly touched his forehead. “Jesus, that was an exaggeration, you have nothing on your forehead.” Jooheon was beyond amused.

“Stop teasing.” Changkyun deadpanned.

“No.” Jooheon was obviously not one to listen.

“Maybe you’re right, I never intended to join a gang, or do this kind of thing.” Changkyun confessed, hugging his knees to his chest, his face was hidden from the elder’s sight.

“What would you be doing right now, if you weren’t here?” Jooheon asked, already knowing the answer.

“Probably university.” Changkyun said what Jooheon was waiting for. “Probably studying science.”

 _That’s too Changkyun._ Jooheon thought, then had to stop for a second to remind himself that he didn’t really know Changkyun. Why was he acting as if they’ve been friend for ages? They barely know each other. But being with someone so open, so easy to talk to, like Changkyun, automatically made him feel familiar, comfortable. Or that’s what Jooheon tried to convince himself with. Either way, he should stop this. Whatever it is.

“What about you?” Changkyun asked, when Jooheon stayed silent.

“I don’t know.” Jooheon first intention was to stop there, but then Changkyun made his face visible again, his eyes said that he was quite interested in knowing. “Probably a rapper, or something like that.” He, at last, elaborated.

“Are you serious?” Changkyun was not expecting that answer. But a rapper would suit Jooheon’s looks, Changkyun admitted.

“Yeah.” Jooheon didn’t like talking about this subject, it was kind of sensitive.

“An idol rapper or underground rapper, though?” Changkyun asked, he was intrigued.

“Probably idol rapper.” Jooheon hated saying that. He felt like people would judge him for it.

“Oh, that’s interesting. Better than my science boring university anyway.” Changkyun’s tone wasn’t judgmental at all. “Now that you mentioned it, I really like hip hop, the genre I listen to the most.”

“Korean hip hop or western?” Changkyun felt like it was a trick question.

“Both?”

“Good answer.” Jooheon said with a smile. Showing off his dimples. It was the first time that Changkyun actually saw them, saw Jooheon’s other side. _So this is what it takes to make Jooheon smile. Music_. Changkyun noted as he couldn’t help but stare. _Who wouldn’t?_

“Is there something on my face?”

“Huh?”

“You’re staring.”

“Oh.” Changkyun said as he hid his face again away from Jooheon.

They sat in silence for a while, as the sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon, and the cold night was slowly making its presence when they, both, felt goose bumps on their arms.

 _I should’ve worn a jacket._ Jooheon thought when it was too late.

“I think it’s time to go. It’s getting cold.” Jooheon said, using the cold as an excuse.

“Yeah. Let me see you out.” Changkyun offered while standing up, and fixing his wrinkled clothes.

“Don’t bother, my car is just around the corner.” Jooheon declined.

They stood in an awkward silent, not sure what to do next. Shake hands? No. Hug? Definitely no.

“Yeah, bye.” Changkyun said, and Jooheon nodded and walked away.

 

_Damn, what was that?_

-

The ride back to his apartment took the usual forty and so minutes, and by the time he parked his car outside the building, the sky was already dark. He took the lift to floor four, then walked to the door with the number tag 29 hanging on it.

As soon as he opened his apartment’s door, he saw an obscure figure sitting in the dark.

“You finally decided to show up.” Hyungwon said.

“Jesus Christ, you scared the shit outta me.” Jooheon said, his hand on his heart, while the other closed the door.

“I texted you but you didn’t answer.” Hyungwon said, now his face was visible when Jooheon turned the light on.

“Didn’t hear it.”

“Read it.” Hyungwon was looking pretty serious.

 

 

**From Chae Hyungwon:**

_“We all got texts from Kihyun’s phone saying that Jinyoung and Hyunwoo are working together and that they found our hideout, and you know what that means”_

Jooheon’s eyes gradually widened as he read the text. Finding a gang’s hideout meant their end.

 

_How did they find out?_

 

Oh.

 

_Changkyun._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What an eventful chapter, I hope you like it and my all over the place writing style. I tried to keep this interesting and avoid monotony, and sorry not sorry for the kind of cliffhanger. Anyway, thank you for reading, kuddos, comments or any type of feedback is really appreciated.
> 
> Also plz be my friend because i'm a loner, you can find me on twitter: @lgbtjookyun or tumblr: atiisawriter


	3. Chapter Three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had been on my drafts for almost two months because I hated it so much, for some reason, and i couldn't bring myself to edit it. But finally today at 5am I did it. Well, half did it. So I'm sorry for any mistakes or any rubbish that you may encounter ahead.

 

Changkyun had never been a social person, during his childhood, teens and even his adulthood. He was the type to stay in a corner of the room, hidden from the spotlight, from people, from everything. Ever since he was a little kid, people did not play with him because he had a scowl on his face at all times. Though, he wasn’t a crybaby, nor a loud, messy child, he simply kept quiet.

When Changkyun turned thirteen, his family decided to move from Israel to Boston. Changkyun was indifferent to the decision, he had no friends back in Israel, mainly because he was homeschooled, so he had no attachment to the country nor his house. But, his life, after moving to the United States, changed drastically. In Israel there may have been mean people that bothered him from time to time, but in America, it was ten times worse because his parents, out of nowhere, decided to make him go to school.

From that moment, his life had turned into hell. Changkyun was half Korean so the kids at school picked on him because of it. All kinds of comments were thrown at him, but his quiet, indifferent nature helped him through it all. He did not care nor mind their insults.

                                                                                                    

Changkyun was finally thirteen, but with no friends nor hobbies, well if you don’t count math as a hobby. No matter how many times his father tried to urge him to play some kind of sports, Changkyun always ended up bored and leaving the field all together. At last, his father gave up on making him do something, he explicitly hated.

Then, suddenly the indifferent Changkyun, to everyone’s surprise, showed interest in something, his father’s rifle.

Changkyun’s father served in the IDF so he was often absent because of his job. His father used to tell him, when he came back from operations, that the rifle would bring the country peace and would help them conquer the country back to its original owners, and Changkyun wondered how could a weapon that is able to kill, bring peace. It was such a contradiction that his small brain never understood, so maybe if he’d learn how to use the weapon, he’d finally get it.

Changkyun’s father was not against it, after all, his son could join the military one day and continue what he had started. But on the other hand, his mother was not so happy about the idea, but she was not extremely against it, either. So, just like that, Changkyun began learning.

Unsurprisingly, he was a fast learner, so he had his first target down after only a few months of practice. Changkyun did not feel happy, it was nothing to be happy about, a living thing had died. Changkyun cried all the way home, but his father did not tell him to stop nor that what they did was fine. But when they got home, Changkyun’s mother cooked the meat and served it for dinner.

 _“Eat it, and tell me what you think.”_ His mother had said, giving him the sweetest smile.

Changkyun, using his fork and knife, cut a bit of the meat and then chewed it hesitantly. The meat tasted amazing.

 _“It also has a lot of protein and benefits.”_ His father had said while eating his meat with no second thoughts.

The thirteen year old Changkyun concluded that sometimes for everyone’s benefits, one must do bad things, for instance: murder.

-

_‘I was a prisoner. A prisoner in an immense prison that its very foundation was made by my knowledge of the outside, its bars weren't of steel but were of my bones and guts. The chains on my hands and legs were nothing other than my own flesh, and the lock that was keeping me and my thoughts inside was the reality of humanity, but worry not, for I now found the key which is the imaginati-‘_

Changkyun was interrupted midway sentence by his phone vibrating next to his head. When will he ever read a book without being interrupted after reading half a paragraph?

**From Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

**‘Attached location-**

_I need you to be in this address as soon as you can. Jinyoung said that he knows Jooheon’s hideout.’_

Changkyun had not the time to react to the message because another one came in, but from a different person.

**From Tough PandaTM:**

_'Where are you?'_

Changkyun did not know which text he should answer first, he did not even know what to think.

The book that he was reading, _limitless_ , was long forgotten, as he got up from the couch and practically ran out of the warehouse to his car. Once he had gotten to the black Jeep, he didn’t know where to drive, he forgot how to drive a goddamn car. He sat there for a solid minute, looking at the roof of the car, thinking about a thousand thought at the same time, but at last, he decided.

He unlocked his phone that was squeezed on his tight grip all this time and sent a message, and then started the engine and drove to the address that Hyunwoo sent him.

 

-

“So, are we going to go there?” Hyungwon said, while sitting next to a tense Jooheon.

Jooheon had gotten a text from Hyunwoo with an address attached to it, and Jooheon assumed that it’s where they are going to discuss the end of him.

“No. We wait.” Jooheon said, staring holes at his phone.

 _Come on Changkyun answer._ Jooheon thought as he shook his leg _._

“Stop with your leg, you’re making me more nervous than I already am.” Hyungwon said, his face held a hideous expression, a mixture of nervousness, fright and confusion.

Jooheon muttered a quiet sorry, but did not stop shaking his leg. It was a habit that Hyungwon should deal with. Jooheon cannot simply stop being tense. Who would blame him, anyway? His friend was held hostage, and his gang was two seconds away from falling apart. All kinds of thoughts were polluting his brain, making him anxious. Will he become an underdog once again? Will he have to endure being humiliated again? After all these years of establishing a name and a certain rank for himself among the killers, the dealers and the human flesh eaters? All because of miscalculating an idiotic plan, because he did not play his turn as he should’ve in a game.

Jooheon did not regret, he should not regret, he won’t regret the decision he made. Instead of regret, he should think of a way to make this fucked up situation, less fucked up.

“Jooheon.” Hyungwon said while shaking Jooheon’s shoulders.

“What?” Jooheon said, startled.

“We shouldn’t wait, Kihyun’s life is in danger.”

That sentence was enough for Jooheon to get going.

-

The ride to the address Hyunwoo sent him, felt longer than it actually was. The address was of an apartment complex that consisted of five seven-story white buildings, they looked very modern and probably inhabited by a lot of people. Motherfuckers, they knew what they were doing. In a crowded place like this, you can't do much, the police are right next to your ear and could be present after two seconds from being called.

Jooheon and Hyungwon verified if their guns were in their respectful places, not that they’ll be any help, but it was a habit to do so. The apartment’s number was 8 in the second floor. The trip to the apartment went by painfully slowly. The fact that they didn’t know what could be waiting for them in there was the worst thing about this whole situation.

Both Hyungwon and Jooheon, finally, stood in front of the apartment's door, the latter knocked on it twice, and someone opened it in a nanosecond, as if they were waiting at the door patiently for their presence.

Someone that neither Hyungwon nor Jooheon recognized opened the door, but Jooheon did not even bother to look at him, for he was busy looking at something else. He was looking at the duo standing in the middle of the room. Hyunwoo and Jinyoung. His two rivals. The newest one with the oldest one. Both against him.

“Where’s Kihyun?” Jooheon said first, it was the first thing he wanted to ask, _needed_ to ask. The main reason why he was here.

“Now, now, you are not going to get your friend back that easily, now, will you?” Jinyoung said with a smirk.

_Asshole._

It had been months since they saw each other. They’ve promised to stay away from each other, to not contact each other after the past they both shared, but here they are breaking it. Not exactly knowing who really broke it first.

“If you lay a finger on him, I will fucking end you.” Jooheon threatened, which did not affect Jinyoung at all. This was Jinyoung’s property, his game, why would he be afraid of Jooheon?

“Whoa, I’m very scared.” Jinyoung said, faking a scared expression while walking toward Jooheon until they were a few inches apart. “Read the situation, you are in no place to threaten _me_.”

Jinyoung words were shortly followed by his fist making contact with Jooheon’s jaw. Jooheon did not budge from his spot, his face only slightly turned to the left.

Jooheon snickered as he turned to look back at Jinyoung.

“That’s all you’ve got? My mother can hit better than you.”  Jooheon said, and raised his fist in the air to return the favor, but was stopped by two guys from behind him. They grabbed him by the wrists and shoulders. “Let go of me, assholes.” He struggled which made it impossible for them to control him.

“Stop struggling, and look around you.” Jinyoung said, still standing only a few centimeters away.

Jooheon looked around him, still struggling, to see Hyungwon already handcuffed and down on his knees, a guy in front of him, ready to execute whatever order was thrown at him.

“Do you think you could threaten me with that? Hyungwon can handle your punches, weak punches that is, judging from the one I just received.” Jooheon said, not dropping the mockery and sarcasm, even in a situation like this.

Jinyoung looked back at the guy, nodded at him as though it was a signal for something, and it indeed was. The guy brought a gun from behind his back and pointed it at Hyungwon’s head.

“What about this? I bet your Hyungwon can handle our bullets too.” Jinyoung said sarcastically.

At that, Jooheon stopped struggling. Jooheon knew who Jinyoung was, and if the latter said that he would kill someone, he fucking will.

After a few brief seconds, Jooheon found himself on his knees too, hands cuffed behind his back.

 _You are not here to see me like this, fucking scared to face this aren’t you?_ Jooheon thought, and as though it was a cue, the door opened to reveal an out of breath Changkyun. _Well you’re here after all, not as cowardly as I thought._

Changkyun stood frozen at the door, not sparing Jooheon a glance, he stared at his leader for a moment before he walked toward Jooheon, finally looking at him.

“Oh so you’re finally on your fucking knees. Such an opportunity. Should we make him suck our dicks?” Changkyun said when he was close enough to Jooheon. The latter’s face at the same level as Changkyun’s crotch.

The guys in the room weren’t very against it, they wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to humiliate a living thing.

“Maybe we should film it too, it’d get us some real cash. Legitimate rape videos are very appreciated on the internet.” Jinyoung said from beside Jooheon.

Jinyoung was on Jooheon’s right, while Hyunwoo was on his left.

“And you finally are Jinyoung’s dogs. Have a nice stay as you lick his shoes and when he’s done with you, he will throw you out like garbage.” Jooheon said, a smirk on his face as he did his best to not make eye contact with Changkyun, masking all the fucking ugly feelings he had, and the urge to vomit, right there.

Changkyun had never even said a curse word, now he’s saying things like this. Wasn’t Changkyun the one to get flustered at the smallest things, like being caught staring? Wasn’t he the guy who did not want to be a thug but a science student? Why was he talking more of a gangster than Jooheon, that’s been in the field for eight years? All these questions hurt Jooheon’s brain, he couldn’t comprehend how Changkyun could actually be like this. Was he that good of an actor?

“Maybe we leave that for his boy toy Hyungwon. Jooheon is ugly, wouldn’t bring that many views.” Changkyun said and Jinyoung barked out a laugh. It was so ugly, Jooheon gagged.

“Oh my god! Hyunwoo, I didn’t know you had such a guy in your gang. He really knows what he’s talking about.” Jinyoung said, and reached to pat Changkyun’s head.

“As far as I know, you didn’t think I was ugly when you begged me to-“” Jooheon tried to shoot back, but Jinyoung was having none of that. He kicked Jooheon in the back hard enough to send his face on Changkyun’s feet. “Changkyun take the opportunity while you have it, and give him a punch or two. It’d be good for your reputation later. Punching Jooheon is a privilege only I get to profit from.”

It was both an invitation and an order, and Changkyun seemed happy to oblige.

Changkyun fisted Jooheon’s hair harshly and made him raise his head, but Jooheon had his eyes closed. He heard enough of this ugly Changkyun, he did not want to see his face too.

It seemed like everyone held their breath as Changkyun raised his clenched fist in the air and swung it across Jooheon’s face. Instantly, blood appeared on the kneeling one’s lips. Jooheon had to admit that it hurt like a bitch, on his face and somewhere else too, somewhere that Jooheon couldn’t really locate even if he tried to.

The second punch came in after a few seconds, followed by the third, and after the fourth Jooheon had lost count. At last, Changkyun ended his punching session with a hard kick to Jooheon’s stomach that made the latter cough blood out of his guts.

Jooheon’s head hung low when Changkyun let go of his hair. His lips, eyebrows, nose were bruised and his guts were twisting because of multiple reasons. Jooheon hated how he felt, he hated how he let a damn kid do this to him. He had been betrayed before, as someone so old in this world, he had experience betrayal in all its forms, from friends, gang members, lovers and even blood family. But none of them quite felt like this one. This one didn’t even feel like betrayal, they never promised, at least Jooheon didn’t, to stay loyal to each other in any way. It just felt shitty for no reason, it felt bad when it should not.

“Good job, Changkyun!” Jinyoung said while clapping. _Psycho motherfucker_. Jooheon thought as he looked at Changkyun’s feet, because that’s all he could do. “You’re new, but you seem like you’ve been made just for th-“”

A sudden rustling followed by a loud thud outside of the apartment made Jinyoung shut up, they all stayed still for a second before Hyunwoo spoke, for the first time.

“Let’s check what’s going on outside. Y’all know that Jooheon’s member Minhyuk is still free, so it maybe something big.” Hyunwoo said, and Jooheon cursed loudly because not fucking Minhyuk.

 “You’re right. You and you, stay.” Jinyoung said, looking at the two guys standing next to the door.

“Let Changkyun stay here instead, he’d handle Jooheon better, as you could see.” Hyunwoo suggest, and Jinyoung seemed to agree. “Let’s leave Changkyun and Hyunshik here.”

“Alright, let’s see what’s going on.” Jinyoung said and walked toward the door, followed by Hyunwoo, and the two guys that were next to the door.

As soon as the door was closed, Changkyun turned to look at Hyunshik, and the latter just nodded and dragged Hyungwon to another room.

When everyone left the room and it was only the two of them, Jooheon expected an ‘I tricked ya’ or ‘I did it first’ but as always, what he expected from Changkyun never came. Instead, the atmosphere totally changed.

Changkyun, suddenly, fell on his knees to be at the same level as Jooheon. The latter was startled by the sudden action, he unwillingly looked at Changkyun’s face, to be met by teary eyes and sad expressions, and totally the opposite of what he was avoiding seeing.

Before Jooheon could say anything or react in any way, he was being hugged tightly. Changkyun pulled Jooheon as close as possible, his face on the latter’s neck and his fingers were tangled in Jooheon’s hair.

“I’m sorry.” Changkyun whispered.

“What are you exactly apologizing for, you’ve done quite a lot of things.” Jooheon said, not sure what to do, he was being hugged by the person he’s supposed to despise.

“I know.” Changkyun said, while tightening his hug more. “I’m sorry.”

“You know, a hug or a sorry won’t change the fact that I’m done for. If you’re afraid of me holding a grudge against you, then don’t bother, I won’t.” Jooheon said, not putting much effort into talking, he was exhausted, confused.

“Done for?” Changkyun said as he let go of Jooheon, so he can look at his face. At the loss of contact, Jooheon realized that this was the first time he was hugged that tightly in years, sadly, he could not hug back. “Of course you are not!”

Changkyun looked at Jooheon with warm teary eyes, and Jooheon felt sad, Changkyun with tears did not make Jooheon feel any better.

_How can I feel like this toward someone who just beat me up? Why can’t I hate him?_

This Changkyun, though, was not like the one Jooheon knew. This one was even softer looking, was more boyish than Changkyun had ever looked.

 _Which one is really Changkyun?_ It was a useless question, its answer did not matter.

“Jinyoung knows my hideout.” Jooheon said the obvious, his voice lifeless.

“What? No. He doesn’t.” Changkyun furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait, did you think I told them?” He whispered, and Jooheon nodded. “Of course I did not.”

Jooheon felt like the air was punched out of him.

-

Changkyun received two text messages almost at the same time, from the only two people that he talked to on a daily basis; Hyunwoo and Jooheon.

The first message read: ‘ _meet me at this address- Jinyoung had found Jooheon’s hideout’_ from his leader.

The second message read: ‘ _where are you?’_

What was happening? How could Jinyoung find the hideout?

After a long mental breakdown, he decided to answer the most important text message.

**To Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

_‘Where is that?’_

Changkyun asked, even if he already knew the answer, and then started the engine toward his destination, which wasn’t really that far away. Plus, Changkyun is a fast driver, he’ll be there in no time.

After he was a few minutes away from the warehouse, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He stopped on the side of the road to check it out.

**From Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

_‘It’s the address I just sent you.’_

_Wait, what?_

That wasn’t the address to Jooheon’s hideout. Why would Jinyoung lie? But most importantly, how would Changkyun tell that to Hyunwoo without sounding suspicious, because obviously, he wasn’t supposed to know the real hideout’s location.

**To Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

_‘Are you sure that it is the right address?’_

Changkyun anxiously waited for the answer, which came almost instantly.

**From Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

_‘No. That’s what Jinyoung said.’_

**To Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

_‘And you trusted him that easily? Are you there yet’_

**From Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

_‘Almost there. Why?’_

**To Hyunwoo-Hyung:**

_‘I’m gonna call you.’_

Changkyun dialed Hyunwoo’s number and put the call on speakers so he can drive and talk at the same time.

_‘Hello.’_

“Hi, Hyungwoo-Hyung. I think that Jinyoung is planning a trap for all of us.” Changkyun improvised. He didn’t really know what was Jinyoung planning to do, but that was the best thing he could think of.

_‘Why would you say that?’_

“Because it’s just suspicious.” Changkyun said as though it was enough to convince anyone. “Wait. Where’s Hoseok-Hyung?”

_‘With Kihyun.’_

“Kihyun? What?” Changkyun did not know half of the things that were going on. Guess he’s still the new kid.

_‘Yeah. Jinyoung had kidnapped Kihyun to proof to me that he’s serious about this.’_

Fuck. Jinyoung had really thought about this.

“Where is Hyung? And how do you know he’s safe?” Changkyun asked. He just needed something, the smallest thing that’s wrong with Jinyoung’s really well thought out plan. There must be something, it has to be.

 _“He’s in Seugri-ro. And we’ve been texting for a while now_.” Hyunwoo said. _“Because we’ve established a long while ago that I don’t like talking on the phone, so you must know that you’re bothering the hell out of me.”_

“I’m sorry, please trust me on this. Please.” Changkyun said, and used his phone with one hand and drove with the other. He will beat himself over it later.

Changkyun was no doubt a genius, so he was able to develop an app that can track down any number that he has on his phone.

He opened it. It was a black and blue world map, the blue represented the oceans and the black was meant to be the land, in the black area of the map there were a few red dots in it that represented the people that he had in his contacts and where they were. This app was his last hope to convince Hyunwoo that Jinyoung was suspicious without exposing himself and that he, in fact, knows Jooheon’s actual hideout.

The first person he checked was Jooheon, which was a little bit far away from supposedly his hideout. Second was Shownu which was exactly three blocks away from the apartment complex. And then Kihyun’s location (he had stolen the annoying guy’s number from Hyunwoo’s phone, just in case, and here it was useful.) which was indeed in the address Hyunwoo said. But, Hoseok’s dot was nowhere near Kihyun, his phone was being used from where Jinyoung told them he was, which could only mean one thing.

Thankfully, he found it: the evidence.

“Hyung. Remember the app I told you I was making?” Changkyun asked. Hyunwoo hummed, obviously annoyed. “Well I tracked Hoseok’s phone, and it’s being used from what you think is Jooheon’s hideout.”

The sudden brake of the car could be heard from the other side of the speaker.

“Are you sure?” Hyunwoo asked, his tone completely changed.

“One hundred percent. Jinyoung is the one who’s been talking to you through Hoseok’s phone. He used Jooheon to trap you, and used you to trap him. He knew your each other’s weak point. He wanted to kill two birds with one rock.” Changkyun reasoned. It didn’t take too long for him to figure out Jinyoung’s plan since it was as clear as day.

“Fuck.” Hyunwoo cursed. “What are we gonna do now? I’m two minutes away from the apartment.”

“We’re gonna get help from both our guys and Jooheon’s. I think I have a plan. Just trust me Hyung, consider this a test or whatever just trust me for once.” Changkyun had never tried to be convincing like this in his entire life. Not even as a child when he wanted something so badly.

Changkyun could not stress how this situation was hard and stressful. On one hand, he has to not break his leader’s trust, to protect Hyunwoo no matter what because that was his one and only vow, to protect his gang members more than his life. But on the other hand, he has Jooheon, the both of them might have not made a vow but Changkyun promised to not tell the secret, even if they are rivals. Changkyun liked Jooheon, somehow, and he would protect him just like he would protect anyone from his gang.

“Alright.” Hyunwoo said. Even if it was hesitant, Changkyun was extremely happy with the answer.

“Okay here’s the plan.”

-

“So, the noise was some dudes you rented? And Minhyuk is with you on this?”  Jooheon asked, eyes wide, and mouth agape.

“Yes. Don’t worry about Minhyuk, he won’t get hurt, I promise.” Changkyun said, and then smiled while adding. “Have I ever broken a promise so far?”

“Well, no.” Jooheon said, and when he tried to smile back, he winced instead, anything he did with his face hurt at this point.

“Ohmygod, I’m so sorry.” Changkyun said frantically, while examining Jooheon’s face with his hands.

“Ah, it’s fine.” Jooheon said, moving his face away.

Changkyun gave him a look at the weird reaction, but he didn’t question it, it was not the time.

“I’m gonna uncuff you. Pretend that you still are, and get him from behind at my mark, alright?” Changkyun said as he got up and circled around Jooheon and knelt from behind him, and started unlocking the cuffs, using a bobby pin.

“You are good at this, considering how new you are.” Jooheon remarked, it was admirable how good he already was at this. Jooheon did not doubt that one day, Changkyun could be his rival. Smart, quick witted and could fool anyone.

“I’ve been told that I’m a fast learner.” Changkyun said as he easily opened the cuffs, but didn’t completely take them off, then he walked around Jooheon so he’s in front of him.

“I’m sorry for saying humiliating things, I don’t think that at all, I had to. I hope you forgive me.” Changkyun said while bowing ninety degrees.

“I said, it’s fine.” Jooheon muttered while looking away.

“You’re forgiving me too easily, I said horrible things.” Changkyun said, now standing straight. “Thank you for trusting me again.” He said, while smiling slightly while looking down at Jooheon.

Jooheon felt really weird. How he was feeling was inexplicable; he was basically on his knees, his hands behind his back, while another guy was standing in front him, a situation he’s been in so many times he couldn’t count when he was young, but weirdly enough he didn’t feel like he used to. Even if Changkyun was standing tall while looking at him, but Jooheon didn’t feel looked down upon. Changkyun was looking at him with the same bright eyes, and slight warm smile and innocent gaze that Jooheon found himself not minding being on his knees so much.

When Jooheon mustered enough breath to answer, the door was being opened and two leaders walked in.

“What took you so long?” Changkyun asked as he turned his back to Jooheon, acting as if he didn’t know.

“We checked outside the building and some guys were moving in here, and they blocked our way.” Jinyoung said, his psychopathic smile still on his face. He looked so pleased with himself. “Where’s Hyushik and Hyungwon?”

“The bathroom, Hyungwon said he wanted to use the toilet, I couldn’t let him go alone.” Changkyun explained. “Where’s the other guys?”

“They are outside, the guys moving in acted suspicious not letting us get here. We did not want to cause a scene in front of people.” Hyunwoo explained, but he actually was confirming to Changkyun that their plan was going smoothly.

 _Minhyuk and Jason were doing their jobs right._ They rented people for that, and that was all they needed, to get rid of as much of Jinyoung’s guys as they could. So it’s easier for Changkyun and his leader to control the situation.

Jinyoung stood in front Jooheon and gave him a too pleased smile.

“Now look at your situation, once again in your knees for me.” Jinyoung said, and Jooheon saw the realization spread on both of Changkyun’s and Hyunwoo’s faces. “Oh wait, back in the days you consented to it, now you don’t.” 

 _I’m gonna kill you. We fucking promised to keep it between us_. But then again was Jinyoung ever trust worthy? Obviously not.

When Jooheon said, he and Jinyoung had a past, yes it was that kind of past.

Jinyoung, not breaking eye contact with Jooheon, brought his gun from behind his back, and pointed it at Jooheon’s forehead.

“What if I kill you right now? Ironically enough, your death will be in the same position you’ve been in when you were born, truly born.” Jinyoung said. “But nope, I’m not gonna make the same mistake, and train a dog that will bite me later on.” He added as he twirled around on his heels, and pointed the gun at Hyunwoo instead.

Changkyun and Hyunwoo didn’t react, they were anticipating this, and they knew that Jinyoung was going to turn on both of them when he’s done. Changkyun, though, reacted because of the expression on Jinyoung’s face, it was twisted between a smirk and a frown.

 _Oh, so even crazy guys like Jinyoung, sometimes get overwhelmed by their feelings and can’t mask their sadness._ Changkyun thought. Maybe he wasn’t with the two back when they were doing whatever they were doing, but by the look on Jinyoung’s face, it was something that had an impact on crazy Jinyoung as much as it had on Jooheon. Maybe it was revenge from Jinyoung’s part. Maybe it was some kind of weird like that turned into hate with time, Changkyun was not sure but he did not like it.

“Take these and handcuff your precious leader.” Jinyoung said as he threw the handcuffs that were hiding in the pocket of his dress black pants on the ground, near Changkyun’s feet. “Don’t try to fight back, I have both Kihyun and Hoseok. If you make one wrong move, they are not gonna live to see tomorrow.”

Changkyun stayed mute and did what he was told, he stood behind Hyunwoo, letting his gaze fall upon Jooheon’s, and it was the only form of communication they exchanged before Jooheon got up from his kneeling position. Using quick movements, he had Jinyoung on the ground, his face kissing the ground, and hand behind his back, and then in a matter of a second, he was handcuffed, while Jooheon sitting on top of him.

“Jiwoo!” Jinyoung yelled for his members that were outside, guarding the apartment.

Instead, he got something entirely unexpected. The door opened to reveal a really familiar face.

“Did you call for this piece of trash?” Said Kihyun, with a limp body in his arms. He threw Jiwoo on the ground as though he was real trash.

“Kihyun?” Jooheon said in a surprised tone.

“What did you do to him?” Jinyoung said from under Jooheon that was still holding him down.

“Nothing much. Just quietly snapped his neck, like the others did.” He explained, and before anyone had the chance to ask who were ‘the others’ four guys walked in. Two of them holding another two corpses that got carelessly thrown on the ground next to their friend.

Hyungwon, Hyunshik, Hoseok and finally Minhyuk.

“Minhyuk, what the hell are you doing here?” Jooheon did everything to avoid this but here they are.

“Hyunshik?” Jinyoung whispered, but Changkyun heard him.

“Oh that. Nothing can’t be bought with money.” Changkyun said.

“Also, thank you for choosing an apartment in the first floor, it was easy to escape from the bathroom’s window.” Hyungwon added.

“So what are we gonna do with him?” Minhyuk asked.

“Kill him of course.” Hyunwoo said in a heartbeat, glaring at Minhyuk.

“Would you chill?” Kihyun glared back.

“Are you his lawyer?” Hyunwoo mocked.

“I’m his friend, but you wouldn’t know what that is because you have none.” Kihyun shot back. He wasn’t one to back down.

“Can you leave me alone with Jooheon?” Jinyoung asked, his forehead on the floor, his face concealed.

“What? No.” Hyunwoo instantly refused.

“Okay.” Jooheon said. “And Hyunwoo, your role here is done, Hoseok is here, you’re no longer needed.”

Hyunwoo stood in his spot for a few seconds, then he shrugged and walked away.

“By the way, just because we worked on this together, that doesn’t mean we are buddies.” Hyunwoo said, but he didn’t leave with Changkyun trailing behind him, before he heard a _sure_ from Jooheon.

After a few minutes, Jooheon called his friends to get into the apartment again.

They found Jooheon alone, Jinyoung long gone.

They all asked where he was, and Jooheon simply answered with _I let him go_ , not accepting to answer any other questions.

-

When all of the four got back to Jooheon’s apartment, they were exhausted, almost dead. Kihyun had a fractured hand, Hyungwon eyelids were heavy, and Jooheon’s face felt like it might fall off any moment. But despite all of that, Jooheon did not let them rest, except for Minhyuk that was instantly dismissed to sleep in Jooheon’s room. He wanted an explanation. He wanted to hear everyone’s side of the story.

Kihyun told his side first. He explained that when he went to meet Jinyoung, he was attacked by three guys that he, of course, fought till the end, but they outnumbered him. At last, he was knocked out when a gun hit his head hard, and the next thing he knew, he was in the deserted building, with Hoseok sitting next to him and other two guys guarding them. Then after Who knows how many hours, Hyunshik and Hyungwon came to rescue them. When Kihyun was done, he almost flew to the guest room to sleep for probably three days.

When it was Hyungwon’s turn, he told his story slowly, because forming coherent words was too much of a work. He said that after Hyunshik took him to the bathroom, he explained to Hyungwon that he was on their side and that he knew where Kihyun was. And with some struggle, they escaped from the window and drove to Kihyun and Hoseok’s location.

“And that’s all. Now let me sleep. Goodnight.” Hyungwon concluded his story, laid on the couch, and dozed off in a second.

Jooheon stayed in the arm chair, but didn’t sleep like his friends did. He kept thinking all night, about a lot of things.

-

After the whole thing with Jinyoung, Jooheon kept quiet for two weeks, he did not really talk to anyone or made any appearance. He decided to just take it slow after all the drama. But one thing that he kept thinking of was Changkyun, all day, all night. There was a lot to think about that related to that kid, and Jooheon found himself not getting anything, he was confused, but mostly kind of empty, he didn’t really understand what he was feeling, but it was there, consistent, not letting him go at all. Though, he knew something for sure, he felt like that because of Changkyun, and that only made him even more confused, because why would it even be about him?

Jooheon never did things like this, like sending more than one text to a person who wouldn't answer, but he did with Changkyun.

Maybe Changkyun was taking it slow too.

But after two weeks, the answer came in, and Jooheon wasn’t sure what his expressions turned to, or how did he react in front of his friend, but he was sure that he got up from the couch and walked to his room, answering the text message almost instantly.

**From Handsome Man:**

_‘Hi’_

**To Handsome Man:**

_‘hello’_

A casual conversation could never go wrong. After a few seconds he received an answer.

**From Handsome Man:**

_‘Did you miss me ;)))_ ’

_Oh._

Jooheon laughed at himself. So the feeling he didn’t understand was longing. Changkyun truly knew how to make Jooheon clear his head and think straight, but not so straight at the same time.

**To Handsome Man:**

_‘Don’t say cheesy things. I think YOU miss me, we could meet tho.’_

_Jooheon, you couldn’t be more obvious._ A voice inside Jooheon’s head said.

**From Handsome Man:**

_‘I didn’t answer you because I knew that you would want us to meet. I didn’t want to see what I did to you.’_

Changkyun, soft as ever.

**To Handsome Man:**

_‘Your punches were kind of weak, they healed easily…’_

**From Handsome Man:**

_‘Don’t make me want to punch you again.’_

**To Handsome Man:**

_‘I mean, do it, if you want…’_

Jooheon meant his answer sarcastically, but it didn’t come out as it sounded in his head.

**From Handsome Man:**

_‘What kind of kink is that, are u a masochist? I don’t kinkshame but I’m still kind of judging you silently.’_

Jooheon laughed at that. Changkyun’s texting skills never failed to amaze him. He was a funny texter by nature.

**To Handsome Man:**

_‘So, are u finally ready to see the handsome face you ruined again?’_

**From Handsome Man:**

_‘Yep, our place.’_

_When did it become our place?_

**To Handsome Man:**

_‘Alright see u at 7 or 8pm, I have some work now’_

Jooheon lied, it was just a small lie though. He wasn't going to tell Changkyun that the actual work he had was cooking dinner for an injured Kihyun on his couch. He is a gang leader for fuck’s sake.

**From Handsome Man:**

_‘Sure, good luck with work ^^’_

That made Jooheon slightly smiled, it’s been so long, if not never since he received a good luck message. He felt like he could cook five dishes at once.

Jooheon locked his phone, and plugged it to charge, and opened his room’s door a little bit too enthusiastically.

“I’m fired up!” He yelled as he walked to the kitchen.

“You scared me! what the?” Kihyun exclaimed from his spot in the couch, eyes wide in surprise.

“Nothing, just continue watching your dumb shows.” Jooheon said teasingly.

“What do you mean? My shows are awesome.” He said rolling his eyes.

“Sure they are.” Jooheon said sarcastically, and started preparing dinner.

-

When Changkyun answered Jooheon back, he was in the roof top, thinking about the one and only Jooheon.

It was in Changkyun’s nature to be nice and kind, but for Jooheon he went too far. And whenever he asked himself _why did I risk my life and others’?_ The answer popped up on his head with no warning: _it was for Jooheon._

Changkyun was true to his feelings, since forever, and he knew exactly what was happening. He ran. He hid for two weeks, but honestly, the thought of Jooheon just chased him everywhere. The burning sensation in his throat and the guilt whenever he remembered what he did. The way Jooheon believed in him more than anyone would ever. It was futile to run away from it, so he sent a text back to his rival gang’s leader.

Now Changkyun, after a couple of hours after their conversation, was laying on his back, continuing his book, _Limitless_. He reread the same line ten times, because maybe he was distracted or maybe because he actually did not understand it.

“ _I realized that the imagination is bigger than the universe. The imagination is the human so I realized that we are our own Gods. We create without moving a finger, we see without needing light, we write without the help of a pen, we speak without being audible._

 

_We are free."_

 

 

 _‘We are free.’_ Changkyun thought of the simple sentence, the words that he believed so dearly. But now, he began to doubt that. Was he truly free? Not quite. He was bound to his gang’s thread, to continue what he started, his loyalty that he promised to protect no matter what, the sense of ownership he felt Hyunwoo had on him.

Changkyun was never truly free anyway, from the seeds of his father’s thoughts that were planted into the depth of his mind since childhood, to the clutches of despair he fell into when he lost his home that was never truly his. He may as well not be free from neither for now, it was not the appropriate time to be heroic and decide to turn the tables and act on his mere wishes and run away from here to an imaginary place, where he can realize his dreams. For the moment, It’s easier to do what he was familiar with. Be a prisoner like the character in his book in the very first chapters, he will be free later.

Suddenly, Changkyun heard loud steps coming his way so he closed his book and put it next to him while changing his position to sitting instead of lying down.

“Hi.” Changkyun said quietly when Jooheon sat next to him, this time both of them are wearing jackets. They learned their lesson from last time.

“Hi.” Jooheon whispered back. Neither of them knew why they were whispering but it just seemed appropriate.

Changkyun and Jooheon both found themselves in the same scenario as before. The setting sun, the comfortable quietness, but hopefully not the awkward goodbyes later on.

Changkyun did not know what to say or from where he’s supposed to begin so he just smiled at Jooheon that, instead of returning it, reached with both hands toward the back of Changkyun’s head, and pulled him gently into his chest.

“I figured, from the other day, that your way of apologizing included hugs.” Jooheon said, but it sounded like a lame excuse and it was, and Jooheon was aware of it. “I’m sorry for thinking you’d tell the secret out.”

Changkyun just nodded his head slightly, Jooheon would’ve missed it, if he wasn’t really paying attention.

Changkyun was speechless. A moment ago, he did not know what to say but at this moment he did not know how to accept what he felt. At this moment, Changkyun was sure that his thirteen year old self was completely wrong. Because maybe, just maybe, if his father was not like he was, and planted thoughts of peacefulness into him instead ones of war and killing the innocent in the name of national pride, he may have not been here, but somewhere completely different. Maybe somewhere more peaceful, somewhere more free.

With Jooheon in a different world, place and situation, Changkyun was sure that the hug would’ve felt different, because all Changkyun felt from this hug now was sadness, and a pure tragic future. Maybe he is no fortune teller, but just by the way his heart was beating, and the warmness he was feeling, he really could tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed this, I edited some of the grammar mistakes that had been here before. But still, I'm sorry if there's any mistakes that I didn't notice!  
>    
> PS: the book limitless changkyun is reading is a fanfic of mine. a crossover much. (it's a eruri fanfic that i've never published though.)
> 
> Thank you all for reading this, and for the comments and kudos, and thanks to the ghost readers too,!


End file.
